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Making Judaism New, Minus the New Age
ll those years, I had no idea. I was a High Holy Days-only synagogue attendee growing up. My enormous Reform temple had velvet-covered seats, a lofty choir that, majestically, sang from out of sight and an impressive collection of both Torah scrolls and shofars. Every year, I ate apples and honey on Rosh Hashana for…
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Baltimore Shul Tests Conservatives’ Policy on Gay Vows
The board of directors of Baltimore’s largest Conservative synagogue has voted to allow its rabbis to perform same-sex commitment ceremonies in the sanctuary. Last month two women became the first couple to take advantage of the new policy at Beth El Congregation on Park Heights Avenue, a 1,750-family synagogue located in an area of the…
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What They’re Hoping To Hear
Tony Davis knows exactly what he want to hear from his rabbis when he sits down in his pew this High Holy Day season, although he admits to having been disappointed in the past. “I would like them to speak specifically about how American Jews can effectively support Israel at this time,” said Davis, 33,…
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After a Child’s Death, Discovering Signs and Wonders
Two years and an ocean removed from the brutal murder of her 13-year-old son, Sherri Mandell still has problems confronting the question “How are you doing?” with much more than downcast eyes and a sigh. “The grief stays with you. It’s not something that goes away,” she said before beginning lunch with the Forward last…
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Teaching Teshuva: An Almost-2-Year-Old Learns To Say ‘I’m Sorry’
Josie is talking up an official blue streak. She saw me putting on lip gloss and said excitedly, “Is that nail polish for your mouth?” She yells, “There’s a fly! I’m scared! Hold you!” (She’s still unclear on the whole “you” versus “me” concept. The other night she woke up and really, really wanted a…
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IN OTHER WORDS…
Raiders of the Lost Art: The inability of the American military to prevent the looting of the Baghdad Museum during the early stages of the war in Iraq constituted, to many critics around the world, nothing less than aiding and abetting the plunder of the cradle of civilization. With cross-cultural sensitivity presumably in mind, the…
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High Holy Days
‘Meditation practice,” said Rabbi Rachel Cowan, outgoing director of the Jewish Life Program at the New York-based Nathan Cummings Foundation, “is a daily practice of teshuva. Literally, physically, you are coming back to your breath. But you are also coming back to who you are.” This journey to one’s true self has animated Cowan throughout…
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Newsdesk September 26, 2003
Groups Push for AIDS Funds The campaign to push for more money to fight AIDS in Africa is uniting Jewish groups with rock stars, Christian leaders, human-rights activists and Africa advocates. The orchestrated effort is aimed at trying to convince the White House and the Republican congressional leadership to appropriate the full $3 billion President…
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Far From Frum: Opting for Rituals Outside the Shul
When the shofar blew at Amy Tobin’s Rosh Hashana celebration a few years ago, it was to the beat of techno music, and she was dancing. While she had little desire to attend synagogue, Tobin nonetheless felt a need to mark the new year. So she organized “Honey: DJs spin in 5761,” a party with…
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Support for Syria Bill Grows in Congress
WASHINGTON — Congressional support is mounting for tougher action against Syria and Iran, as the White House insists that both countries are attempting to develop weapons of mass destruction. The new congressional push for sanctions comes after senior Bush administration officials testified last week that Iran already has the ability to build crude biological warheads…
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Breaking the Fast: Feeding the Body After Feeding the Soul
‘Everything revolves around bread and death,” the Yiddish proverb tells us, and this is never truer than on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when we deny ourselves the one that we may not be condemned to the other. On the day during which we are most aware of our mortality we abstain from those…
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